Born and raised in Tennessee, Bland was a founding member of the Beale Streeters, a group that also included blues greats B.B. King and Johnny Ace. He scored his first No. 1 R&B hit with "Further on Up the Road" in 1957, followed by a dozen other hits including "I'll Take Care of You," "Turn on Your Love Light," "Call on Me," and "That's the Way Love Is."

In 1992, Bland was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which described him as "second in stature only to B.B. King as a product of Memphis' Beale Street blues scene." He also received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997.